Sunday, 2 November 2014

Accessing the Future will be an anthology of short stories and art on the theme of disability and science fiction. (See the original call for stories.) The editors are looking for single-page, black and white illustrations to include in the anthology. The illustrations will be free-standing (i.e. not depicting scenes from the stories). The editors want to include illustrations from as many and diverse people as possible. The editors especially encourage submissions from people with disabilities or chronic illness, and people who are neuroatypical.

Illustrations that the editors want:

The editors want illustrations that depict disability and people with disabilities in the future. The editors also want the illustrations to reflect diversity (in terms of race, nationality, gender, sexuality and class). Illustrations can be abstract or realistic and use any technique appropriate to creating high contrast, black and white images.

Here are some questions the editors want artists to think about when drafting their illustration:

How will people with disabilities change the future world?

What kinds of new spaces (on Earth and in outer space) will there be to explore and live in? Who will have access to these spaces? In what ways will people use these new spaces?

What kinds of technology will people use in the future to make their lives easier?

What does an accessible future look like?

If including technology in your illustration, the focus should be on the human user(s) and not on the technology. Please avoid proposing illustrations of cyborgs or any image that dehumanizes the user(s) of technology.

Submission Guidelines

In the first instance, please pitch the idea for an illustration to the editors. The editors will select the ideas that work best, and will work with artists to make sure the final images are a good fit for the anthology.

Send the editors an email with a description of the planned illustration and an explanation of how it fits the theme. This may include a rough sketch. The pitch should also include a link to an online portfolio or previous examples of artwork.

Email the editors at accessingfutureatgmailcom with your pitch as soon as possible. The call for illustrations will remain open until the editors have as many images as they need. Final versions of images will be needed by January 31, 2015.

Final images will be approximately 11cm x 19cm (4.5" x 7.5") in portrait orientation. Images will be printed in black and white, on off-white book paper.

The editors do not ask artists to identify themselves as a person with a disability. The editors respect anyone’s desire to self-identify.

Payment and Rights

The publisher will pay $75 (USD) for global English first publication rights in print and digital format. The artists retain ownership and copyright.

About the Editors and Publisher

Kathryn Allan is an independent scholar of feminist SF, cyberpunk, and disability studies. She is the first Le Guin Feminist Science Fiction Fellow (2013-14). She is editor of Disability in Science Fiction: Representations of Technology as Cure (2013, Palgrave MacMillan). Kathryn is an Associate Editor and Reader of The Future Fire. She tweets and blogs as Bleeding Chrome.

Djibril al-Ayad is a historian and futurist. He is the owner of Futurefire.net Publishing. He co-edited both Outlaw Bodies (2012, co-edited by Lori Selke) and We See a Different Frontier (2013, co-edited by Fabio Fernandes). He has edited The Future Fire magazine since 2005.

As a member of the Outer Alliance, we advocate for queer speculative fiction and those who create, publish and support it, whatever their sexual orientation and gender identity. We make sure this is reflected in our actions and our work.